Quanah Parker

A few weeks later Roosevelt remembered Quanah and sought him out when he traveled to Oklahoma to hunt coyotes. It was here that Roosevelt supposedly gave Quanah a pocket watch inscribed: 'Quanah Parker, Comanche Chief.' Later he had a beaded pouch made for the watch.

Cynthia Ann Parker and Pecos right after capture by whites to reintroduce her to her family. She cut her hair as a sign of mourning.

The high point of Quanah's career as a parade Indian was his part in the inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Together with Geronimo, Hollow Horn Bear and American Horse of the Sioux, and Little Plume, a Blackfoot, Quanah in warbonnet and buckskin rode in the inagural parade.Before leaving Washington the chiefs had an audience with the president. It consisted of their shaking hands with Roosevelt and then "gazing silently at the Great Father, who gave then some wholesome advice." Agents, inspectors, Indian commissioners, and secretaries of the interior had been unable to still Quanah, but in the exuberantly voluble Roosevelt he finally had met his match.

Cynthia was born in Clark County, Illinois and moved with her family to the headwaters of the Navasota River in Texas as a young child. The family developed a community around the church of her uncle, Elder John Parker, who headed the Texas branch of the Primitive Baptist Church. As protection against the Natives of the area, they built substantial walls around their community and created a company of Texas Rangers for the area. The settlement became known as Fort Parker. In the Spring of 1836, Fort Parker was attacked by several hundred Caddo, Comanche and Kiowa who captured five residents of the Fort. Among them was Cynthia, who was 9 years old at the time. Within 6 years, all the captives had been returned to their white families - except Cynthia. Cynthia was given to a Tenowish Comanche couple who cared for her, and who raised her like their own daughter. She became Comanche in every sense; was trained in Native ways and was totally devoted to her adopted parents. The memories of her white life quickly faded, and every attempt to ransom her was refused by the tribal council at her request. She married Peta Nocoma, the young chief who gained fame for his many violent raids on white settlements in the territory. While it was customary for prominent Comanche warriors to take several wives, Peta never took any wife except Cynthia - a mark of extraordinary devotion and honor for her. They had 3 children: Quanah, Pecos and Topsannah (2 boys and 1 girl). In December of 1860, Peta's camp on the banks of the Pease River was attacked by Captain Lawrence Sullivan Ross. Peta was wounded, but managed to escape with their two sons, Quanah and Pecos. Whether or not Peta survived these wounds and lived is cloudy for he is not mentioned again. Cynthia was "rescued" along with their daughter Topsannah and the two were taken to Camp Cooper. She was identified by her uncle Isaac Parker, and subsequently taken to his farm in Birdville, Texas. Cynthia's every attempt to return to her people failed, and she was repeatedly caught and returned to Birdville. Even though she refused to speak of her Comanche life, many fanciful and fictitious stories were written about this strange and mysterious woman. "Historical fiction" was used to incite anti-Indian feelings, and these tall tales eventually became accepted as truth and fact. Never satisfied, and never at home in a society that was foreign to her, Cynthia was shuttled from one family member to another. Her grief and longing for her lost family never left her. In 1863, Cynthia received word that her son Pecos had died of smallpox, and only a few months later, the daughter who had remained with her died of influenza. Heartbroken, Cynthia refused all food and starved herself to death in 1870 at the age of 43. Only Quanah survived, and his name is legendary as the fierce, half-breed Comanche warrior chief. In his later years, Quanah began living in peace with the whites and went on to be very prosperous. He searched for his mother for most of his life and, upon discovering that she was dead, had the bodies of both Cynthia and Topsannah moved to friendly soil. When Quanah died in 1911, he was laid to rest beside his devoted mother. At Cynthia Ann's reburial service in 1910, Chief Quanah Parker said: "Forty years ago my mother died. She was captured by Comanches at nine years old. Loved Indian and wild live so well she not want to go back to white folks. All same people anyway, God says. I love my mother. I like white people ... when end comes, then they all be together again."In 1930 a reburial service was held for Prairie Flower, and in 1957 all three were moved to Chief's Knoll, Fort Sill Military Post Cemetery.

Quanah Parker and his wife Tonarcy

Quanah and 3 wives

3 of Quanah Parkers wives and their children

Quanah Parker, strongly resembling a white man, as the culture was forced upon him.

Quanah Parker

Above is Quanah Parker with a portrait of his beloved mother Cynthia Ann Parker​and himself as an infant.

The website below has a fabulous story about a visit Quanah made to mining company. It's worth a read: http://www.jerometimes.com/Quanah.htmlQuanah Parker died in 1911 with seven wives, twenty-five children, a forty room mansion, part-owner of a railroad (The Quanah, Acme, and Pacific), judge, millionaire, and friend and adviser to a President. He also established The Native American Church, the only church legally allowed to use peyote as a sacrament.

He and his tribe were never been beaten by the U.S. Army. He only surrendered at Fort Sill in 1875 because of the government sanctioned annihilation of the buffalo. From 1865 to 1875 thirty million buffalo were killed, effectively wiping out the food source for the Plains tribes.

After Quanah died, the Comanche tribe voted to designate him, "The Last Chief of the Comanches".

Letter To Dept Of The Interior

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORUNITED STATES INDIAN SERVICECache Okla. July 22rd, 1909 Governor Campbell, Austin, Texas. Dear sir, Congress has set aside money for me to remove the body of my Mother Cynthia Ann Parker and build a monunt and some time pasted I was hunting in Texas and they accused me killing antelope and Iam afriad to come for fear they might make some trouble for me because of a dislike to a friend of mine in Texas, would you protect me if Iwas to come to Austin and neighbor hood to remove my mother's body some time soon. Yours very truly, Quanah Parker

Here's a story in the NY Times about efforts to save Quanah's home: ​https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/travel/in-oklahoma-efforts-to-save-house-of-last-comanche-chief.html?_r=0

Here's a virtual tour of the inside of the home, as it looked when Quanah lived there. It's been vacant and in rapid deterioration for many, many years. ​http://newsok.com/gallery/6035308/pictures/4486656